Northampton graduates catch the eye and win at regional fashion event

Three fashion design graduates from the University of Northampton scooped awards at a regional ceremony last night.

Bethany Martin was awarded the fashion trophy, Loren Buckingham won for footwear & accessories and Mollie Ann Crabtree led the way with 28% of public votes (2,038 were cast for her in total) to win the People’s Choice trophy at the Fashanne Awards in Nottingham.

Bethany’s athletic men and womenswear’s fashions were inspired by an article on the Afghan women’s cycling team in National Geographic magazine.

Loren’s leather footwear and accessories collection were based on the Colony Collapse Disorder and a bee’s way of life.

Mollie’s designs focused on deconstructed objects, the breaking down of garments, such as a shirt dress with half a waistcoat, to represent how fragile life can be.

These latest sartorial successes follow hot on the high heels of Graduate Fashion Week, in which Northampton students dazzled the catwalk with designs inspired by grime music, mental health issues and geometry.

Julie King, Head of Fashion at University of Northampton, congratulated Mollie: “This is the second year in a row one of our students from Northampton has won an award and we are incredibly proud of the student achievements in the face of very strong competition.”

The Fashanne Awards, sponsored this year by clothing manufacturer YKK, were created to celebrate the skills of fashionistas in the East Midlands by providing a platform for up and coming designers and to enable as many people as possible to see what they have to offer.

Read the Fashanne website for details of our eight nominees at Fashanne.

Read our press release for what happened at Graduate Fashion Week.